INTEGRO Project
“Effective integration of migrants in the local communities”
We also affirm our commitments to a bottom up approach in order to make the invisible migrants to be engaged and participate in policy decision processes alongside with the wider stakeholders group.
About the INTEGRO project
The INTEGRO Project (http://www.integro-project.org/) aims at advancing, through an interactive way, cooperation between all relevant stakeholders, including migrants themselves, for the promotion of the effective integration of migrants.
The project is based on the principles of the respect for human rights and cultural diversity, the promotion of equality (including gender equality) and combating discrimination, through the exchange of expertise, knowledge, information and best practices.
The project, funded by the European Commission, is implemented by NICEM (http://nicem.org.uk/) in Northern Ireland, KISA (https://kisa.org.cy/) in Cyprus, Radio Afrika TV (http://www.radioafrika.net/) in Austria, SIMI (http://www.migrace.com/en/) in the Czech Republic and CFE (http://citizensforeurope.org/) in Germany.
The project involves three phases:
- During Phase One, each partner mapped integration and collected data regarding the realities and needs in their country. In addition, stakeholders discussed and exchanged expertise, knowledge, information and good practices.
- During Phase Two, each partner designed and developed a pilot integration project, according to the situation in their countries and the exchanges and consultations in Phase One and on the basis of a combination of the 11 Common Basic Principles of the E.U. for migrant integration and the integration principles of the ENAR toolkit (http://www.enar-eu.org/).
- During Phase Three, each partner focused on the one hand on the implementation of their pilot project and on the other on the evaluation of both the pilot projects, locally, and the whole project of INTEGRO, at European level.
Project Partners
Lead Partner:
Northem Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities – NICEM (Northern Ireland)
Key words: migrant workers, employment, employability, workplace discrimination, labour participation, institutional barriers, political participation
Why INTEGRO: Employment issues have been identified as the main barriers to full participation in Northern Ireland. Our INTEGRO project will work to explore these barriers and look for practical solutions through a programme of events that includes three regional workshops and a national policy seminar.
Pilot project Name: Employment, Employability, and Workplace Discrimination
Aim of the project:
(i) To raise awareness, with statutory and non-statutory organisations, of the institutional barriers to full participation in the labour market faced by Third Country Nationals living in Northern Ireland
(ii) To raise awareness with employer and employee bodies, of workplace discrimination experienced by migrant workers
Contact: Mark Caffrey, mark@nicem.org.uk, phone +44 (0) 28 9023 8645
+44 (0) 28 9023 8645
Further Partners:
Radio Afrika TV (Austria) – Radio Afrika is the media partner of the project
Key words: Media, clearing service, investigative journalism, intercultural dialogue, citizenship, housing, economic participation
Why INTEGRO: There is a lack of voice given to the migrants in the Austrian Media, and a lack of communication between stakeholders and migrant communities
Pilot project Name: Forum INTEGRO
Aim of the project: Establishing an integration forum plus TV-show to foster mediation and communication between migrants (focus: Third Country Nationals), stakeholders and the majority on a neutral basis
Contact: Alexis Nshimyimana Neuberg , alexis.n@radioafrika.net
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Action for Equality, Support, Antiracism – KISA (Cyprus)
Key words: self-representation, organizing, empowerment, migrant women, domestic workers, living conditions, gendered violence, labor rights, racism, discrimination, social vulnerabilities, capacity building
Why INTEGRO: There is an absence of efficient policies, measures, projects, or actions to promote migrant women’s active participation in the integration process in Cyprus.
Pilot Project Name: Promoting and Facilitating the Self-Organisation of Migrant Women in Cyprus
Aim of the project: Facilitate the creation of a forum of migrant women and support migrant women to self-organize to claim their rights and support their communities
Contact: Anthoula Papadopoulou, anthoula.p@kisa.org.cy
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Association for Integration and Migration – SIMI (Czech Republic)
Key words: intercultural workers, better access to public services, motivation, political participation of migrants, awareness raising
Why INTEGRO: There is a widespread negative even xenophobic attitude of the administrative clerk towards migrants in the Czech Repblic
Pilot project Name: With neighbours from elsewhere – Integration of migrants in their localities
Aim of the project: Encourage migrants towards active citizenship and participation, and contribute to a better coexistence between them and the local communities by establishing a variety of tools and services such as intercultural work services, toolkit for migrants on active citizenship, information map kit or trainings to municipality clerks
Contact: Eva Čech Valentová, valentova@refug.cz or Kateřina Dederová, dederova@refug.cz, (+420) 224 224 379(+420) 224 224 379
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Citizens For Europe (Germany)
Key words: voting rights, democracy principles, social media campaigns, legal aspect, capacity building
Why INTEGRO: Third Country Nationals (TCNs) are not allowed to formally participate in the political decision making even though they are directly affected by its outcomes
Pilot project Name: Wahlrecht für alle (“Voting Rights for Third Country Nationals”)
Aim of the project: Create public pressure and develop the knowledge among stakeholders to drive political leaders to introduce voting rights for TCNs
Contact: Julia Lehmann, lehmann @ citizensforeurope.org, phone: +49 (0)30 20 93 8332+49 (0)30 20 93 8332
Presentations (pdf) of Pilot Projects
Pilot projects developed by the project partners in their countries:
- NICEM’s pilot project “Employment, employability and workplace discrimination“, focuses in combating discrimination in the workplace and on the integration process.
- Radio AfrikaTv’s pilot project “Forum INTEGRO” deals with the role of Media in promoting the integration process.
- SIMI’s pilot project “With neighbours from elsewhere – Integration of migrants in their localities“deals with the cultural mediators.
- Citizens for Europe’spilot project ‘”Voting Rights for Third Country Nationals“aimed to promote political rights of migrants and particularly the right for voting and participation.
- KISA’s pilot project is focused on “Promoting and Facilitating the Self-Organisation of Migrant Women in Cyprus”, the major aims of which are the self-representation and empowerment of migrant women to actively participate in all spheres of public life, including full and equal participation in the labour market, education and political participation, especially in the formulation and implementation of integration measures and policies.
Final Conference (Nicosia - 27, 28 May 2015)
The final conference of the INTEGRO project was successfully held on 27 & 28 of May, at the Holiday Inn in Nicosia. The conference was organized by KISA, as a project partner, on the integration of migrants in the local communities. The conference, with 80 participants, including 38 participants from 15 EU member states, aimed to disseminate the project results, both locally and at EU level, to all stakeholders engaged in the integration process. Read More…
Seminar on racism, violence and gender equality (21 March)
In the framework of 21 March, International Day Against Racism-, KISA-Action for Equality, Support, Antiracism organized a Seminar that focused on three basic issues– racism, violence and gender equality, their intersections and how they concern and influence migrant women Read more….
